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UPDATE & APOLOGY: Folks, we missed one rule out on the 2022 Cemetery Management Rules. Apologies, an honest oversight, we are human. We have now added it in below (we left out rule 3.4 Leading, riding, training or exercising a horse …because you know...dogs are not horses :-)

This small edit does not alter the core message of this post. Any rational, reasonable person would look at these signs and say “that looks like new rules to me”.

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There are two signs in the photo above.

THE SIGN ON THE LEFT:

·         This is the Cemetery Management Rules agreed on the 16th of August 2022 meeting of the Culture & Communities Committee, which include the “dogs on leads” rule.
It’s important to note, these were erected in Edinburgh cemeteries on a trial period as well.

·         These Cemetery Management Rules have THREE SENTENCES (lets forget about the horses mentioned in 3.4) which we have highlighted with a yellow arrow, around dogs in cemeteries, "prohibiting" (happens on a regular basis):

3.1 Failing to keep your dog on a lead whilst in the cemetery.

3.2 Commercial dog walking

3.3 Allowing a dog to foul in a cemetery contrary to the provisions of the Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003

·         You can see the Edinburgh Council logo at the top, and we have highlighted with a yellow arrow an Edinburgh Council phone number and an Edinburgh Council email address to contact Edinburgh Council's Bereavement Services team.

THE SIGN ON THE RIGHT:

·         This is the trial signage that was erected in eight locations in Morningside Cemetery in March, a cemetery that is managed by Edinburgh Council.

·         This sign is a direct result of a meeting we attended with Jane Matheson, Bereavement Services Operational Manager at Edinburgh Council on Monday 25th March. We talked through the wording with Ms Matheson and agreed to a "trial period of the new signs”.

·         Ms Matheson, an Edinburgh Council employee, would have asked her team, also Edinburgh Council employees to produce the signs.

·         The signs went up in Morningside Cemetery, a cemetery managed by Edinburgh Council, and would have been erected by an Edinburgh Council employee.

·         The signs also carry the Edinburgh Council logo.

·         The signs also carry the exact same Edinburgh Council phone number and Edinburgh Council email address for Edinburgh Council’s Bereavement Services team.

Of course, the big difference is in the extra sentences referring to rules for dogs in cemeteries. We have highlighted these with yellow arrows.

Instead of three sentences, there are now five:

1: "STOP - Do you plan to exercise your dog in this Cemetery?"

2: "Please read the below signage and remember short leads only"

3: "Cemetery rules mean any dog in this cemetery must be on a lead at all times and those needing fully exercised should be taken to an appropriate green space such as Morningside Park, Craiglockhart Hill or Braidburn Valley Park"

4: "If you are visiting with a dog, please remember you must keep it on a lead, and be aware that they should not be allowed to urinate on headstones"

5: "Do not let your dog touch, sniff, or remove any mementos from a grave" 

These are not “requests”, these are not “do you think you could possibly…”, these are not “suggestions” …

These are clearly rules.

If this is not an official Edinburgh Council trial of new Cemetery Management Rules around dogs in Morningside Cemetery, then what is it?

We do not believe this is a case of semantics - Any rational, reasonable person would say “that looks like new rules to me”.

The counter petition claims, "Two cemetery involved officials with knowledge, interest and duties in Edinburgh council cemeteries both state there are NO TRIAL RULES in Morningside cemetery. We understood the trial signage was to emphasise and educate on current rules."

These are not sentences to "emphasise and educate on current rules".

These sentences do not appear at all on the 2022 wording.

People can be wrong. Even “two cemetery involved officials with knowledge, interest and duties in Edinburgh council cemeteries”

Case In Point: We were told, unequivocally, by Edinburgh Council’s Bereavement Services Operational Manager on the 25th of March meeting, that “the Cemetery Management Rules will not be on the agenda for August’s meeting on the Culture & Communities Committee”.

Yet they are….